As a leader, your team’s success is your success. Your team’s failure is your failure. This is why addressing poor morale is important for the performance of the business.
It is a fact that teams suffering from poor morale do not perform anywhere near as well as those who turn up to work every day with a smile on their face.
You will never get to the point where everyone has a smile that remains in place, but what you can do is address why your team, or individuals, is low in morale or lacking drive.
1. Address the Issue Early
As a team leader, you should be privy to each member’s performance and concerns. When an issue has a negative effect on results, this should be addressed immediately.
Communication is important to ensure a happy workplace, as well as good team chemistry. Sometimes, all it takes is to hold a meeting to work through issues to increase morale among the team before results begin to slide.
Team building events that get everyone out of the usual mundane work environment help break up the usual routine and re-focus everybody on their return.
2. Keep Your Team Challenged
Great employees leave businesses when they no longer feel challenged or feel as though there is no more chance of progression within the company.
In order to keep your top performers, you have to keep them feeling challenged with goals that, while realistic, are optimistic.
It is up to a business leader to recognize when an employee is performing well and to reward them, either with a show of gratitude or a promotion within the company.
Nothing drives employees more than seeing a colleague rewarded for their hard work, and this, in turn, will increase their drive to achieve the same.
Showing that a business looks to its own, before externally, for higher positions helps to maintain good morale among colleagues. Your employees will feel that their contributions are not going unnoticed.
3. Have Regular Team “Fun Days”
Make a point of organizing corporate fun days and encourage as many team members to join in as possible.
If possible, arrange a day out during work hours as this will make it easier for employees who would normally have to arrange childcare during the evenings and weekends.
Taking everyone out of the usual work setting helps to break down barriers that may exist among individuals. When teams socialize with each other and form friendships that transition outside of the workplace, productivity inside the workplace soars.
Fun days are great for teams looking to improve communication by temporarily removing anything to do with work, allowing everyone to get to know one other on a different level.
4. Share Business News
Far too often, management teams make the mistake of not sharing news concerning the business with their employees. Without them, there would be no business – every man and woman connected to the company should be kept in the loop.
When employees are told of the latest, they feel included and valued by the business, which blows away any ‘us and them’ concept that exists at many businesses between management teams and other workers.
When workers are not kept in the loop, they can feel as though management teams spring negative surprises on the workforce, which can have a detrimental effect on morale.
In short, maintaining good morale in your team is simple. The business should be open and honest with its employees while offering the opportunity for progression, as well as allowing time for fun and rewarding good performance.
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